Into the unknown, Neil in Sinnoh
by SirHeine
Summary: The aspiring trainer Neil and his Growlithe finally leaves the safe place of home for a trek trough Sinnoh. Battles, Pokemon and adventures awaits them. Rated T just in case
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Growing up at a Pokemon-Gym could be both a dream and a nightmare. If you loved Pokemon nothing were better. Luckily there was one thing you could say about Neil, he really loved Pokemon. Through the years he and his Growlithe had helped with the general work and training at the small local gym.

At the age of 16 he had still not left the town to go on a journey like many of his friends had. He couldn't really say why, he just liked the safety of the gym and the closeness of the family. His twin sister Sally however had left several years ago, traveling to distant locations together with her Flareon. She had battled and competed against some of the strongest trainers in the world, and each time she came home the stories seemed more and more compelling to her brother.

One week ago she had been home again. After competing in the Hoenn region she had decided to go to Sinnoh. The stories she told about this region, a region filled with wild pokemon yet to be caught, lit up a fire in the usually calm Neil. It was time for him to do what she did years ago. It was time for him to leave the security of home and embark on his own adventures. And if he could beat his sister while he was at it? Just the better.

A/N:

Hi and welcome to my little trainer-fic. I've decided to make it take place in Sinnoh to have a reason to make all the possible pokemons appear (yes, I will not care about region-specific pokemon) and to play a bit around with the world of Sinnoh. It's based a bit on the game, a bit on the anime and alot on my brain (disclaimer: ofc I do not own pokemon). Leveling is out of the question, I think that fucks up stories. Tms/HMs as well, fit in a game, does not fit in a story. Moves are learned now and then, not based on when they would learn them in the game. For spelling and grammar be glad to correct me, English is not my first language so I might need all the help fluent-speakers can give me. Apart from that, please enjoy.

PS: Neil's Growlithe is pretty strong for a starter Pokemon, since he have had it for some years.


	2. Chapter 1: The sun is set

Chapter 1: The sun is set

Stepping out of the boat Neil took a deep breath. The air felt just like home, still there were something missing. A chill ran down his spine as he noticed it was the sulphuric smell from home that lacked. A smell that only appeared where fire pokemon would breed.

Til now the adventure had been a small letdown. Saying goodbye had been pretty hard on him, and even though Growlithe was with him he couldn't help missing home. His parents had been supportive when he told them what he wanted to do. It seemed like they had waited for it. Not so surprising when his sister had left years ago. It still took him 2 days after she had left again to finally leave himself. With a full backpack and his trusty companion he had boarded the ship for Sinnoh.

Shaking the thought of home away he glared at the sign showing the way to Sandgem Town. This were the town where he would meet Professor Rowan, and old friend of his dad. The road seemed kind of old, mostly mud but with some weatherworn cobblestones here and there. He started to walk northwards on it, Growlithe running infront checking everything out like any other dog.

A small explosion coming from somewhere east of the road, behind a small hill, startled Neil. Then the screams for help jolted him back in focus. Yelling for Growlithe to follow him he started running towards the sound.

When he came over the hill he saw three young trainers and three pokemon surrounded by Rattatas, lots of Rattatas. The three pokemon, one small monkey-like creature with fire on its tail threw out small fireballs, one small bird-like pokemon were spitting small bubbles and the last, a strange greenish one used what seemed like razor sharp leaves. Neil could clearly see they would not be able to hold the rats back much longer

«Growlithe, howl to show them we are here!» Neil ordered and the dog obeyed at once, unleashing a fierce howl. Some of the rats turned around, before a shriek among them made them walk aside. A Raticate, obviously the leader of the pack, slowly came forward to meet the challenge from the newcomers. All the other fighting had stopped.

«Carefull now Growlithe, this wont be easy. Now! Use ember!» A fireball came out of Growlithes mouth and flew towards Raticate who jumped over it and started charging towards Growlithe quicker than Neil thought possible. Before he was able to give any orders the rat had sunk its teeth into Growlithes back.

«Shake it off! Use Flame Wheel!» Both the dog and the rat got engulfed in a blazing red fire and started spinning around. After a few seconds the rat got thrown away, it rose again but with a tired look in its eyes.

«Finish it off with you Fire Fang! Before it gets time to react!» Growlithes mouth got filled with fire before it leapt towards the rat, biting it hard. Noticing it were getting weak Neil took up his only spare pokeball and threw it, capturing the Raticate.

«Well done Growlithe,» Neil said and petted the small dog on the head.

The other rats had ran away when they saw their leader had been captured and now the three kids came towards Neil.

«Thanks man,» a boy about a head shorter than Neil with brown hair said, «you really saved us. They were just too many and too strong for us.»

«I'm Tom,» a little shorter boy with long black hair shot in, «this is Mark,» pointing at the first boy, «and Sarah,» a girl shorter than both the boys and with her blue hair cut short like a boy.

Neil spent some time talking to the three kids. They were all beginner-trainers and had decided to try to fix the problem Sandgem Town had with Rattatas. With Raticate out of the picture they believed the problem would solve itself and that it again would be safe to walk trough the area. After a while Neil had to leave the trainers, who wanted to stay out in the wild looking for new pokemons to add to their team.

A/N

So Neil has gone to Sinnoh and we are under way. AND he caught a Raticate.

Short chapter, I see that, and I think they may stay like this. I write when I get an idea, and when the idea run out I tend to end the chapter. The chapter lenghts will vary alot, some long and some short, depending on the events. I have parts of the story already made up in my mind and plan to sketch it down during the next days, inbetween reading for exams.

And to my first reviewer: Love you!


	3. Chapter 2: A familiar sight

Chapter 2: A familiar sight

Two days later Neil walked into Sandgem Town, apart from the battle with the Raticate nothing interesting had happened along the route and he was excited about meeting Professor Rowan. According to his father Rowan was one of the greatest researchers around and a man with great knowledge about pokemon.

The large white lab rose over the town, a puny excuse for a town really, 15-16 houses clustered together around the lab. Neil strode towards it, after all there were not much else to look at here.

When Neil knocked at the door none answered so he decided to enter. At once he entered a large room, filled with computers. Along one of the walls were a big collection of pokeballs. In one corner he saw a white-haired man studying something that looked like an egg, purple with black spots. The man was totally concentrated on the egg and didn't notice that Neil closed in on him.

After looking over his shoulder for about 2 min Neil got bored and touched the mans shoulder, earning him a slap in the face before he had time to react sending him right down on his ass.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The shock from the touch had angered the man, and he was ready to punch again.

"Don't hit me. I'm Neil, my dad sent me here." Hands in front of his face, just in case.

"Neil? Is that you, you've grown a lot!" The man, better known as Professor Rowan, helped Neil up again.

One hour later Neil found himself walking walking away from the lab with the strange egg in his hands, a pokedex in his pocket and his head full of stories about his dad. The meeting with the professor had been both fun and strange. In the end the strange guy had told him he had to continue his research, placed the egg in his hand, given him the pokedex and quickly pushed him out.

"Really a strange guy" Neil thought as he studied the egg once again, he knew pokemon came from eggs, but had never seen a purple one. Back home the only eggs he had seen belonged to fire pokemon and had been red.

His chain of thought got interrupted by birds singing in the trees, Starlys and Pidgeys were flying over him and he decided to let his 2 pokemon out of their balls to enjoy the weather with him. Suddently he heard a yell from the road up ahead and a girl, a bit lower than him came running towards him. Beside the girl were a Flareon he recognized at once.

"You finally managed to leave home eh?" The girl, his twin sister, said while hugging him tightly.

"Yeah, I decided to do it when you were home. I hoped to surprise you, but it seems you found me first." Neil pushed his sister gently away. She laughed.

"You're always going to surprise me little brother," she could never let him forget she were four minutes older, "and I even see you caught your first wild pokemon. What do you say, wanna test it? I got a new one I want to test out aswell."

It didn't take long time for Neil to accept the challenge, he had wanted to test out Raticate for some time now and knew there were few people who would be a better opponent. "Raticate! Go!"

"Swablu, into the air!" A small blue bird with white cotton wings appeared, Neil checked the pokedex; _Swablu, the cotton bird pokemon. Its wings are like cotton tufts. If it perches on someone's head, it looks like a cotton hat._

Eying the flying pokemon Neil knew he was in trouble. Raticate had no long range attacks he knew about, since he had lacked the time to teach him any.

"Raticate, use Swords Dance and stay ready" The rat started to mote its front paws in complicated patterns, and started to glow.

"Swablu, use Swift." Sally ordered in a low voice. Small stars erupted from the birds mouth and hit Raticate spot on.

"Now! Use Secret Power!" A small red orb, dragging energy from the sunlight, appeared between the head-feathers of Swablu. The orb rushed towards Raticate, and a perplexed Neil could only watch while it got hit head on. Knocking it out.

Running towards the fainted pokemon he could catch a glimpse of the red light while Swablu got recalled. He bent down and carefully examined Raticate, just to be sure there were now serious injuries, before he recalled it.

1 hour later he went inside a small pokemon center in the outskirts of the town. He had parted ways with Sally after a quick talk. While Nurse Joy examined and treated Raticate he couldn't help himself thinking about everything his sister had talked about. The first gym he should go to, how to get there and most important, how to beat the gym leader. They had stayed away from talking about their battle, it would only have turned into yet another fight between them. The fact that he had lost didn't really bother Neil, it was the way he did it. He had been able to get off one move, and it had been a move to make his pokemon stronger. The fact that Raticate only knew close range attacks were going to become a problem. A problem he would have to fix, or it could be a fatal one.

The thoughts followed him all the way to bed, and from there into his dreams. Where he would see Raticate loose again and again against the tiniest Pidgey he had ever seen.

N/A:

So, we've gotten chapter 2 finished aswell. Neil looses against his sister, gets a pokemon egg (guess who!) and can't get out of this town... Spoiler alert, he wont be out of there in the next chapter either...


	4. Chapter 3: A cold approach

Chapter 3: A cold approach

"Screech" A strange sound from the outside woke Neil up from his strange dreams. "No Raticate!" He muttered before his brain joined the rest of him into a woken state. The sound came back, kind of like metal against metal. He quickly rose from the small bed, checking out the room only to see Growlithe sleeping in the corner. Then for a third time he heard the sound. He were hundred percent certain it came from outside and walked slowly over to the window. Whoever made this sound better stop at once!

As he peeked out the window he saw 5-6 masked men, dressed all in black. One of them used some kind of saw on the door. Suddenly he removed it and the door sprung open. Quickly and without a noise the men went inside.

"Growlithe, wake up!" Neil shook the dog awake. Giving it five seconds to realize where it were before ordering it to follow him.

The corridor was empty. A low sound, someone running, reached him from somewhere to his right. Thinking about it for a few seconds he decided to check it out, and with Growlithe on his side he began to walk silently.

As he rounded a corner he nearly went straight into the back of one of the men. Quickly he jumped behind the corner again and checked them out. All wore black suits that covered their entire body, on the back they had a big red R. He recognized them as Team Rocket. While Neil processed this information they managed to get the door open and rushed inside. The sign over the door said "Pokemon Treatment And Recovery Yard".

He quietly followed them. When he got inside they were already putting the pokemon into bags. Neil didn't know what to do, then he noticed a red alarm button on the other side of the room.

"Growlithe," he whispered, "Quick Attack on the alarm-button"

Growlithe raced past the beds and the Rockets hitting the opposite wall, and the alarm button, hard. The alarm went of with an deafening sound and the Rockets turned around like the devil himself was after them.

"A kid, trying to destroy our plans." One of them said while glaring at Neil and Growlithe. "You're nothing against Team Rocket. Even with the alarm going we will have time to take care of you, and all the pokemon here. Froslass!"

The Rocket sent out a white pokemon that levitated slightly off the ground. Its hands were blue and it had light blue jewel-like horns. "Freeze them!"

A giant blizzard came towards Neil and Growlithe. Neil barely had time to order a Fire Spin to keep the blizzard at bay.

Above the alarm and the screeching wind of the blizzard he heard orders for Froslass to push on, and the Fire Spin were about to break, Growlithe couldn't hold it much longer. They were pushed farther and farther back.

Then, out of the side of his eyes, he saw Raticate stareing at the Rockets. A black sparkling ball forming between its front legs. "Is that..." Was all Neil had time to think before Growlithe's attack broke and the blizzard raged over them. The last he saw before fainting were Raticate hurling the ball at the Rockets and Froslass.

A few hours later Neil woke up, looking up at a white ceiling. He felt cold to the bone, and as he tried to curl himself into a ball in a feeble attempt to get warm the memories of what had happened crashed back into his mind.

"Growlithe! Raticate!" Neil nearly jumped out of the bed, the cold exchanged for utter fear. There was noone else in the room. On a table there were a small flower. Apart from that it was all white, and a door on the far end. Just as he tried to walk over it opened up and a nurse came in.

"Ah, you're awake. You better not stand up yet, you need rest." The nurse gently placed him back in bed.

"My poke..." Neil started, but the nurse cut him off.

"They are fine. Pokemon can withstand a lot more than us human. Go back to sleep now, a blizzard attack spot on drain your strenght." Neil couldn't avoid listening to what the nurse said, a few mins later he was sound asleep yet again.

A/N:

Lots of love to my reviewer :D I promise I'll get him back on the road next chapter!


	5. Chapter 4: Yanma and a lesson learned

Chapter 4: Yanma and a lesson learned

Three days later Neil finally left Sandgem Town. The original plan of staying in the city for a few hours had been extended to 3 nights as he had needed to get his strength back after the blizzard attack. Unluckily Team Rocket had managed to get away, but with the sun shining he couldn't worry less about them.

It didn't take long time before he noticed the tall skyscrapers of Jubilife City, one of the biggest cities in Sinnoh. For a boy who had lived at home in a small town seeing buildings this large astonished him. He couldn't understand how humans were able to build something that big.

As he stared at the buildings he noticed a Charizard flying over the buildings, it took a sweep around one of them before flying slowly into the horizon. Neil followed the Charizard with his eyes when something zoomed past him. What seemed like a red line in the air went towards the city before it stopped and turned around. It was a Yanma that hovered in the air in front of him.

"A Yanma, they are really rare." He thought while he sent Growlithe out to battle it.

A bit later Yanma was caught, the battle had mostly been Growlithe trying to hit Yanma who was flying around avoiding the attacks at an amazing speed. Then Yanma had done the mistake of stopping to use Solarbeam and Growlithe had hit it with a flamethrower, knocking it out.

With a new pokemon on his team Neil happily entered Jubilife City, just to be scooped up by all the people. With so many people around him he had no idea where he was heading and just decided to follow the stream. This lead him to a large building, the building of the Poketech Company.

Standing awestruck in front of the building a small man came towards him. "New in the city?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Neil looked at him, the man looked about 45 years old.

"Oh, you look like all the others coming into the city for the first time. Impressed by everything and having no idea where to go. Thats why I'm here."

"And what can you do about that?" Just as Neil said it the man took up a suitcase, opened it and dragged up a couple of maps.

"I'm the map man!" He claimed, "I got maps for everything, map of the city, map of Sinnoh, map of Kanto... Every map you'll ever need!"

Neil bought a map of the city and one of Sinnoh, figuring it would be nice to have. And using the map to find his way around in the city he finally stood in front of the Jubilife Pokemon School. The most famous school in the entire region. Some of the best trainers and researchers had started, at the ago of 6, at this center of knowledge.

The first thing he noticed when entering the school was all the children battling. They were assembled in a large room with several battle fields and were fighting while a teacher or judge watched. The pair closest to him seemed a bit older than the rest and he walked over to them. They were in the middle of a heated battle. On the left side stood a girl with long blond hair and blue eyes. She wore some jeans that were a size too big for her and a t-shirt with the name of a rock band. On the other side were a boy, tall and with short black hair. He was dressed in only black clothes.

The girl had a Loudred on the field while the boy used a Skorupi.

Just when he came over Loudred used its signature attack, Hyper Voice and Skorupi fainted. The boy returned his pokemon before promptly walking out of the room. The judge quickly following.

"Don't care about Kenny," without Neil noticing the girl had walked over to him, "he is a sore looser. Who are you by the way? I've never seen you here before."

Neil didn't know what to say, he was not used to talking to girls. Except for his sister of course.

"Ehm, eeeh." He tried to find the right words to use, before finally settling on just saying his name and asking for hers.

"I'm Naomi. Senior student here. You're a trainer right? We got lots of trainers coming over to check the school out."

Apparently the teacher had problems with Kenny, because he did not come back. When they got tired of waiting Naomi showed Neil around the school. While at the same time telling him everywhere she planned to go when leaving school. Something that was 2 months away.

Just as he planned to leave again she turned towards him. "I've noticed you got 3 pokeballs in you belt. We should have a battle, I want to know how I will fare against a real trainer."

Considering it for a few seconds Neil accepted. They walked over to an empty battlefield and Neil sent out his newly caught Yanma.

"A Yanma," Naomi commented, "then I'll use this one. Numel go!" _The numb pokemon. Its humped back stores intensely hot magma. In rain, the magma cools, slowing its movement. _

"Numel, start with ember!"

"Double Team to dodge it!"

The Yanma duplicated itself and avoided the fire attack.

"Quick Attack Yanma!"

The bug flew at Numel with amazing speed and scored a direct hit, but the larger pokemon didn't even seem to notice.

"Before it can get away! Flamethrower!"

"Try to dodge!"

Yanma avoided a direct hit, but the fire attack burned one of its wings and made it fall to the ground.

"Numel, finish it with Take Down"

"Yanma, you can turn this around, use Hypnosis!"

Numels wild run towards Yanma started to slow down, then halt to a stop before it tripped over.

"Yanma, finish it with your Solarbeam!"

Using the little sunlight that got into the room Yanma powered up the attack and sent it at Numel, knocking the sleeping pokemon out. Both pokemon were quickly returned and two new ones were sent out.

"Growlithe go!"

"Absol, let's show him we're not playing!" _The disaster pokemon. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger. _

About thirty minutes later Neil walked out of the school, ashamed by the way he had lost his two last battles. It had taken one attack from Absol and Loudred to knock out Growlithe and Raticate. Apparently Numel had been Naomi's weakest and been used plainly for it to get some training. Even though he had been beaten thoroughly he didn't regret visiting the school. From everything Naomi had said he had learned a lot about training pokemon and planned to put it to use as soon as possible, but first him and his pokemon had to get some rest at the pokemon center.

A/N

Thanks for nice reviews. Neil's team is getting bigger, Growlithe, Raticate and Yanma. Not to forget the egg, anyone think they can guess what pokemon it is?


End file.
